This article was originally published by RFID Update.
May 13, 2005—The U.S. Department of Defense this week awarded “Blanket Purchase Agreement” (BPA) contracts to a number of RFID providers as part of its highly-publicized initiative to deploy the technology across its vast supply chain that includes some 40,000 suppliers. A number of familiar names — Alien Technology, SAMSys, and Intermec — were awarded a BPA, all of whom promptly issued press releases. The contracts are the second round of a five-round process that will conclude in the ensuing months. This round was for RFID readers and will result in an estimated 700 readers being purchased from a variety of vendors over the next year.
In March, the “Group 1” award for Class 1 RFID tags went to CDO Technologies, Avery Dennison, Lowry, Alien Technology, and Intermec. Three contract groups remain, one for RFID printers, one for RFID software, and the final for RFID services. They are all expected to be awarded by the middle part of this year.
The DoD’s RFID mandate, alongside Wal-Mart’s, was considered a catalyzing event for the RFID industry. But delays and slower-than-expected progress on the initiative have caused industry focus to wane somewhat, with the retail mandates getting the lion’s share of attention and press. The awarding of the BPAs, along with last month’s publication of the DoD regulations for shipping RFID-tagged goods, suggests that the DoD initiative may begin creeping back into the limelight.
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